A growing number of Australians are turning their hobbies into small businesses but these ventures are often not captured by official statistics because their operators don’t have an Australian Business Number (ABN).

That’s the key finding from a recent whitepaper released by Australia Post, which seeks to shine a light on “unrecognised small businesses” — a largely concealed, yet influential, sector of the Australian business landscape that is estimated to account for 41% of the country’s small businesses.

Low-paid, unskilled workers who rely on the gig economy to make a living are missing out on mandatory employer superannuation, according to Australia’s peak super body.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) wants the current compulsory superannuation system overhauled to ensure workers employed by the likes of Uber, Deliveroo and Airtasker can build retirement nest eggs.

According to James Chin Moody, co-founder and CEO of Sendle, sellers that integrate their eBay accounts directly with Sendle gain free access to Sendle Premium and are able to instantly create shipping labels and receive access to low, flat rate pricing throughout Australia, with door-to-door service inclusive of free pickup.

The competition watchdog has sued waste management giant JJ Richards for allegedly deploying unfair contracts against small businesses, in what will be an important test case for the government’s new unfair contracts legislation.

JJ Richards, which has annual revenue of nearly $700 million, will head to Federal Court later this month after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged its standard small business contracts contained eight unfair contract terms.

New MYOB research has found only 13% of small businesses have a cyber security plan in place.

Small businesses are embracing the benefits of cloud technology but are still dragging their feet on security measures, new research from MYOB has shown. The SME Snapshot found that the majority of small businesses surveyed (87%) consider themselves safe and attribute this to having antivirus software installed.

Authorities have suggested they are essentially unaware of chargebacks being a problem for SMEs, with business owners implored to report dodgy practices.

A spokesperson for the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) has told My Business that it is interested in hearing from affected SMEs, but that to date only a tiny number of complaints have been lodged.

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About Simeon Duncan

Simeon has over a decade of high-level experience in Australian federal politics. He worked in communications and campaign roles as a Senior Advisor providing strategic advice, training and support to three Opposition Leaders.